The 500
In action: Peter Dell bowls against Glen Alvie on October 25.
By Matt Dunn
THE understated Peter Dell lets his bowling do the talking.
You’ll never hear this OMK champion blowing his own trumpet. But after claiming more than 500 wickets, Dell is the name on everyone’s lips.
Peter reached the milestone last week when his team took on Imperials in the A Grade Division 1 clash, but the magnitude of the achievement was barely an afterthought.
When this journalist said what a top effort he thought it was, Peter replied: “Yeah, I s’pose it is.”
“I’ve been playing at Outtrim for about 15 years, but I’ve been playing for a lot longer than that,” he said.
“I started at Workmens. I’m 36 now.”
OMK’s opening bowler, Peter likes to mix it up. While he was a paceman early on, he has introduced spin to his game in the last few seasons.
“I used to bowl medium pace, but now I bowl both,” he said.
It’s a mixture that often confounds opposition batsmen, for they’re never quite sure what will come next.
Peter said the figure of 500 wickets had not been in his mind much until recently.
“A couple of weeks ago we were talking about it. I realised I only needed five wickets. It became a goal then, but really it’s just another number to me,” he said.
He could not say whether he would ever claim 1000 wickets, but he certainly has no plans to give the game away any time soon.
“The 1000 is 15 years away. I’ve still got five or six years in me in A Grade, and I’ll probably go back through the grades as I get older,” he said.
Peter has been motivated to play because of a strong bond with his team-mates.
“It’s all about playing with your mates. They’re a really good bunch of blokes. We’re very close,” he said.
But Peter is not the only one who has been at OMK for more than a few years. It is testimony to the strength of the club and hints at the bond these men share.
“A lot of the blokes I started with are now playing in the lower grades, but I’m playing with some of their sons. We seem to think of OMK as a family club. Once you’re there you don’t tend to leave,” he said.
As far as the allure of playing cricket, Peter’s reasons are simple: “It’s something I like doing.”
Peter started playing the game when he was nine years old and it quickly became a part of him.
“I went to watch my brother Andrew play once. His team was short, so I filled in…and I’m still playing now,” he said.
Club and LDCA secretary Gary Adams said Dell was a great example of a player who has made the most of his talents.
“He has been a really good club man and is a good example of a guy who puts a lot into cricket and gets a lot out of it,” he said. “He’s a great clubman who has always been there to help out.”
Short URL: http://www.thestar.com.au/?p=337
Posted by Chris Brown on Oct 27 2009. Filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
